School is a giant fraud: Why it's better to avoid 'costly', 'low quality' college education in US

College education in the U.S. is a rip-off, it is no longer a safe investment for the future, and its quality has been so watered down that it doesn't any longer help you get the dream job. Moreover, costly higher education will rather cripple the rest of your life by burdening you with a veritable student loan debt trap!

In a persuasive article in Daily Markets, Michael Snyder has presented statistics supporting his argument that college loan debt hell, which is fast becoming a societal problem, is best avoided.

He says the costs do not justify the end result, that there is hardly any learning taking place in most places and the quality of eructation has nosedived in the last few decades.

And he has more scathing comments to make. Check out one:

The vast majority of college students in America spend two to four hours a day in the classroom and maybe an hour or two outside the classroom studying. The remainder of the time these “students” are out drinking beer, partying, chasing after sex partners, going to sporting events, playing video games, hanging out with friends, chatting on Facebook or getting into trouble. When they say that college is the most fun that most people will ever have in their lives they mean it. It is basically one huge party.

The following are some compelling arguments put forth by Snyder to prove his point that going to college is not 'worth it.'

The Cost:

In the last three decades, the cost of college tuition in the United States has risen by a staggering 900 percent. Some “institutions of higher learning” now charge $40,000 or even $50,000 a year for tuition. That does not even count room and board and other living expenses, Snyder points out.

The college loan debt Americans hold is higher than the total amount of credit card debt they hold.

The Trillion-Dollar Loan Trap

Snyder says Americans have accumulated well over $900 billion in student loan debt and that in the last year, the average college graduate had accumulated approximately $25,000 in student loan debt by graduation day.

Quality Erosion

Students pursue college education as they chase the dream of getting into the middle class, but colleges mostly disappoint them. Not only that they don’t get into plum jobs, they end up working jobs that don’t require college degree. According to statistics, one-third of all college graduates end up taking jobs that don’t even require college degrees.

And note this: In the United States today, over 18,000 parking lot attendants have college degrees. As many as 317,000 waiters and waitresses have college degrees and approximately 365,000 cashiers have college degrees.

And, citing data from Economic Policy Institute, Snyder points out that the unemployment rate for college graduates younger than 25 years old was 9.3 percent in 2010.

And the punch line:

Am I bitter because I didn’t do well? No, I actually did extremely well in school. I have seen the system from the inside. I know how it works. It is a giant fraud.